The man accused of executing a beloved Hollywood couple in their multi-million dollar Encino mansion has a dark, disturbing history — and locals say the signs were there all along.
Raymond Boodarian, 22, was arrested this week for the cold-blooded murders of “American Idol” executive Robin Kaye and her husband, Thomas DeLuca, both 70, during what police suspect was a violent home invasion gone horribly wrong.
But neighbors tell a chillingly different story: Boodarian wasn’t just a random intruder. He was a well-known local threat.
“He’s been terrorizing this street for years,” said Madlen Amrani, 80, a longtime resident just blocks from the scene. “Always high, always bringing other junkies around. We called the cops so many times.”
Boodarian lived just 13 minutes away from the couple’s $4.5 million fortress-like estate — a home equipped with high-end security that still couldn’t protect them from what came next.
On July 10, authorities say Boodarian broke into the house while the couple was away. When they returned, he allegedly shot them both in the head at close range. Their bodies were discovered four days later during a welfare check after family and friends raised the alarm.
By then, the killer had vanished. But he left behind damning evidence: surveillance footage and fingerprints that reportedly matched Boodarian’s record — which includes at least three previous arrests for criminal battery.
“He was dangerous,” said one woman who asked not to be named. “You could see it in his eyes. That guy didn’t care about anything.”
TMZ captured images of Boodarian’s dramatic arrest on Tuesday. Shirtless and barefoot, he appeared dazed as dozens of heavily armed officers swarmed his residence on Hamlin Street.
“He came out quiet, didn’t fight it,” said another neighbor who witnessed the scene. “But we were all watching. We knew it was only a matter of time.”
Now charged in a double homicide that’s shaken the entertainment world and stunned an affluent LA neighborhood, Boodarian is expected to face a raft of serious charges — with prosecutors already signaling their intent to push for life without parole.
The brutal slayings have reignited questions about the city’s growing mental health and drug crisis. Neighbors say Boodarian’s erratic behavior was an open secret, yet little was done.
“They’d arrest him, then he’d be back on the street,” Amrani said. “We’re the ones living in fear.”
The LAPD has not released additional information on the motive but confirmed that Kaye and DeLuca’s deaths appear to be “targeted and deliberate.”
Robin Kaye, who helped shape the early success of American Idol, was known in the industry as a savvy, warm executive with a deep love for storytelling. DeLuca, a respected post-production editor, shared her passion for entertainment.
Now their names are etched into one of LA’s most shocking murder cases in years.
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Here’s the problem, he won’t be immediately executed.
So, years of threatening residents in this neighborhood, a violent history of drug use, distribution of drugs, tresspassing, making personal threats, breaking and entering. The LAPD knew it all! The DA knew it all and yet did nothing to prevent these cold blooded ruthless murders and getting this pathetic Scumbag off the streets and failed to protect the innocent law abiding tax paying citizens!